Security is an important goal for software and hardware providers. Providers are continually challenged to reduce possible vulnerabilities. The creation of virtual machines has helped meet this goal, as any harm from operation of an application within the virtual machine is contained within the virtual machine itself, rather than spreading to the general framework of the executing device. However, maintenance of a secure virtual machine can increase satisfaction by reducing negative experiences.
Previous attempts to increase virtual machine security have focused on the application. For example, the JAVA® virtual machine offered by SUN® includes a “jarsigner” tool which allows users to lock the application. Other attempted solutions have focused on hardware. Yet other proposed solutions focus on signatures. However, none of these proposed solutions allow a virtual machine creator to select the applications that are executable within their environment.
It is therefore a challenge to develop a method to overcome these, and other, disadvantages.